Various Artists - Paradise Club Recordings 002Paradise Club Recordings: the name just evokes visions of resorts towns and decadent discotheques, doesn't it? The second release from the UK label doesn't disappoint in that regard, offering four heavily melodic UK house tracks made of silky surfaces and clever hooks. The first turn comes from London newcomer Blacksmif, whose bubbly house number is propelled upwards by perky chords and compressed synth noises. What "One Man and His Lighthouse" lacks in originality it makes up for in pure professionalism, delighting in the slickness of its own textures. Fellow newbie Juno Sutton tightens up the track a smidge, but his surgical alterations go a long way. Flattened out into the new jacking groove, "One Man and His Lighthouse" gains some much-needed weight that edges it just slightly over the original.

Jabru steps up with a 110 BPM slow flame called "Butterfly Stitched." Using the same "gloss is more" aesthetic as Blacksmif, his track inserts some melancholia into the well-plumbed depths of synth nostalgia as it trudges along. (Forget Miami Vice, the electric piano hits in "Butterfly Stitched" are straight from the Law and Order theme). MTD & Dutty Dan step in for the final and best track with the UK funky-inspired "Stranded," pairing indefatigably bouncy percussion with punchy horn stabs and gasping vocls, finding a nice medium between Blacksmif's maximalism and Jabru's slow hand.